PW127M

Overview

The Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127M is a 2,750 shaft horsepower (SHP) turboprop engine from the PW100 family and the exclusive powerplant for the ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 — the world's best-selling turboprop airliners. Developed in the early 1990s as a higher-powered member of the PW100 family, the PW127M offers excellent performance in hot-and-high conditions that are critical for ATR operators in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where many regional routes depart from high-elevation airports in warm climates.

The ATR 72-600 and PW127M combination has achieved remarkable commercial success: the ATR 72 family holds over 50% of the global turboprop airliner market above 60 seats, a position sustained by the combination of low seat-mile operating costs, short-field capability, and the PW127M's proven reliability across diverse operating environments. Over 1,000 ATR 72 aircraft have been ordered, each pair powered by PW127M engines.

Technical Specifications

Variants

The PW127F is the ATR 42-500 variant, rated at 2,160 SHP to match the smaller aircraft's requirements. The PW127M is the ATR 72-500/600 variant at 2,750 SHP. The PW127E powers the Dornier 328 regional turboprop. The PW127G is a growth variant with uprated output for demanding operations. Across the PW127 sub-family, the core architecture is common and many life-limited parts are interchangeable, which reduces spare part inventory costs for operators flying mixed ATR fleets.

Aircraft Applications

The PW127M's primary application is the ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 family, manufactured by ATR (Avions de Transport Régional), a joint venture between Airbus and Leonardo (formerly Alenia Aeronautica). The ATR 72-600, the current production standard, is a 70-78 seat regional turboprop with advanced glass cockpit avionics and PW127M engines with full authority digital engine control (FADEC). Major operators include IndiGo (India), Wings Air (Indonesia), and numerous regional carriers in France, Italy, and Africa. The PW127M also powers some DHC-8 Series 300 aircraft in higher-rated applications.

Development History

ATR launched the 72-seat ATR 72 in 1985 as a stretched derivative of the 42-seat ATR 42, and selected the PW100 family as the powerplant given its established reliability on the ATR 42. The higher-powered PW127 sub-variant was developed from 1992 onward to meet ATR's requirements for the stretched aircraft's increased maximum takeoff weight. First run in 1992 was followed by certification and entry into service in 1997 on the ATR 72-500. The subsequent ATR 72-600, introduced around 2009-2010, retained the PW127M while upgrading the airframe's avionics and interior. Pratt & Whitney Canada has continued to develop incremental improvements in fuel consumption and time-on-wing through revised hot-section materials and refined digital engine control software, maintaining the PW127M's competitiveness against the potential future adoption of alternative propulsion technologies for regional aircraft.